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HCMC welcomes public to new intensive care unit

Hennepin County Medical Center will host an open house in its new 24-bed Medical Intensive Care Unit, or MICU, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Tuesday.

Hospital spokeswoman Christine Hill said the unit incorporates new designs and technologies meant to make the MICU more “user-friendly” for patients, visitors and hospital staff.

All of the patient rooms are private, single-bed rooms with flat screen televisions, individual thermostats and space for families, the hospital reported. For staff, the layout of the unit was designed to promote communication and ease movement.

The design also incorporates new electronic health record systems.

Hill said the new unit adds two intensive care beds to the hospital’s total, with the possibility for up to 28 beds in the future. It consolidates intensive care units that previously were split between two floors.

Hill said the completion of MICU was a first step in “concentrating all of the critical care” in the 446-bed level-one trauma center. It was also an early step in an $80 million master facility plan initiated last year that includes other renovation projects and the replacement of the Family Medical Center in Southwest Minneapolis.